Students challenge Athens noise ordinance before state Supreme Court

ATLANTA — The college town of Athens attracts hundreds of students to its well-worn bars each weekend, a music haven that launched the careers of R.E.M., The B-52s and countless others.

Now, it’s the focus of a legal challenge before the Georgia Supreme Court that targets a local noise ordinance designed to crack down on all the after-hours racket. The lawsuit claims the law restricts free speech and flies in the face of the town’s deep music roots.

The high court heard oral arguments on the appeal this morning.

Attorneys for Athens-Clarke County say the law doesn’t prohibit music, just playing it loudly, and that the challenge lacks legal standing.

But at its heart is a question faced by college campuses and frustrated neighbors alike: College students can certainly be loud, but just how loud?

And the court’s answer could help decide just how far noise ordinances in Georgia can go.

University of Georgia students Robert Manlove and William Hoffman filed the challenge after a police officer investigating a noise complaint at their eastside apartment complex warned them to turn the music down.

The officers were complying with a county ordinance that bans music, yelling and “party noise” that can be heard more than 100 feet away late at night through early morning. The noise restrictions are loosened during the day.

County officials were a bit startled by the challenge to the ordinance, which has been on the books for decades.

“It’s been very successful without drawing much complaints,” County Attorney Bill Berryman. “We’ve never had much public outcry about it.”

A trial court dismissed the case on grounds that the students failed to prove the law violated their free speech as guaranteed by the state constitution. But the students appealed to Georgia’s top court.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Charles Jones, said music is protected under Georgia’s free speech laws and that the ordinance ignores the “pulsing downtown area serving as the heart of Athens’ famous music and entertainment scene.”

A ruling in favor of the county, Jones warned, would “conscript judges into the role of music and art critics. This opens the door to perhaps unconscious content-based discrimination.”

Amy Gellins, an assistant county attorney, argued in court papers that if residents want to listen to loud music, they can always use headphones.

“We disagree that music, no matter what, is protected,” Gellins said.

The judges, who did not immediately rule, seemed most interested in whether the students had legal standing to file the challenge since neither has been cited or prosecuted for the noise complaint.

Justice George Carley said the students advocated “a very loose standard” that could invite a slew of new challenges.

“It seems like anyone can challenge any ordinance at any time,” he said.